2nd Series 05/15 - Magic Matters
by Macx
Summary: Follows up on the events in Death&Life. Cosmo becomes Kate's favorite guinea pig. :)


Magic Matters

  
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Magic Matters   
by Birgit Staebler 

  
  


"Oh man.....!"   
Ace looked up from where he was reading a book and smiled as his friend and partner walked into the living room, slumping onto the chair. Cosmo scrubbed a hand over his face, looking a bit worn and tired.   
"She's worse than the social service shrinks!" the younger man proclaimed. "At least they only wanted to know about normal stuff! She... She... this is not normal!"   
Ace had a pretty good idea who 'she' was. He had asked for her help. Kate Morrigan had come here about a week ago, lugging with her a ton of books as it seemed, ready for all eventualities, and bursting with questions. She had immediately set to work on figuring out just what this empathic and magic bond between Cosmo and Ace really was, and it meant asking a lot of questions and reading a lot of reference books. Cosmo was Kate's main target and if Ace was not completely off, they had just spent another five hours together, Kate asking, Cosmo answering.   
"I mean, she wants to know everything! Sometimes I don't even get what she asks..... It's kinda hard to recall some things. Especially about before."   
Ace was suddenly dead serious. He knew what Cosmo meant with 'before'. 'Before' was the time with his parents, with the gang, the time before he had run into Ace and his life had forever been changed by the magician. Before meant good memories of his mother, the only person who seemed to have cared about the boy, the sad memories of her death, and the dark memories of his father. Ace hated the man for what he had done to the sensitive child. He had met him only a few times, but that had been too many. Ace would never forget the hatred and disgust in the man's eyes when he had picked Cosmo up from the police station or later the greed when Ace had paid him to save Cosmo from his own parent.   
Cosmo's father had never loved him and it had left its marks. Cosmo wasn't someone to trust easily, though his outgoing and friendly, sometimes boisterous, attitude masked this quite perfectly. Having to recall all of this had to be hard on the teen.   
"Sometimes I wonder if she ever runs out of questions," Cosmo now muttered, diffusing the depressed atmosphere with a grin. "She has a whole book full of them! It's not normal, I tell you!"   
Ace laughed softly and it earned him a dark look. Kate was known to be thorough and whatever she did, she was meticulous when it   
came to research. In a field like magic, it was vitally necessary she was thorough. Small mistakes could mean serious harm for someone, maybe even more. He knew her from his own studies and even back then, as a fourteen year old girl, she had buried herself in books for weeks, surfacing with a ton of notes and writing the most incredible papers. While Ace was a magician who used spells and actively cast on a regular basis, Kate studied magic and everything that had to do with it. She was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge when it came to magic matters.   
"She even asked me about what food I eat!" Cosmo now grumbled. "In detail!"   
"Everything is important, Cosmo," Ace told him.   
"Huh, right. I want to see you squirming in a chair when she asks you these questions. Man, she asked about when my first time was!" A slight blush crept over Cosmo's cheeks. "Thankfully not how it was..."   
Ace grinned again.   
"Not fair," the teenager mumbled.   
"It will help us," Ace reminded him.   
"If she can figure out what happened, when it happened and what might come in the future," Cosmo sighed. "I mean, I can't remember planting this shard inside you, so how does she want to figure it out?"   
"By asking a ton of questions?" Ace replied, smiling.   
Cosmo muttered. "Well, she's good asking stuff you had no idea could be asked questions about. And the things she wants me to do with magic....."   
Ace had noticed a considerable discharge of Magic Force, in small dosages, though repeatedly.   
"Uh, Ace?"   
"Hm?"   
"Kate's a magician, right?"   
Ace raised one eyebrow. Cosmo knew the answer to that question.   
"Uhm, is it possible that I'm hurting her when I misfire a spell?"   
Well, that was a surprise question. "Hurt her?" Ace echoed.   
"I noticed her wince away several times when one of my spells went slightly off. Nothing broke!" Cosmo assured hastily and Ace smiled. "But she seems to kinda... shield against me then."   
"Kate is a nature mage, Cosmo. She uses a different kind of magic and the Magic Force frictions with it. You are not hurting her. It's more like tasting something you are not used to or you don't like."   
"Oh. Huh, bad, man. I mean, I don't want to make her uncomfortable."   
Ace shook his head. "Kate is a shield expert. It's what we trained relentlessly because otherwise I might have hurt her when I was still training."   
"Okay." Cosmo shrugged. "But why isn't she shielding completely against any of the magic when I do something?"   
"Well, she has to look at all angles concerning this unique bond, and your magic is part of it."   
"Huh, right." Cosmo ran a hand through his hair. "Still..." A shrug.   
"Kate's a researcher, Cosmo. They are used to having to put up with uncomfortable situations, and she would honestly tell you if you hurt her. Trust me."   
"Well, I've got the next hours off, she told me, so I'm going to grab some off time for real." Cosmo slipped into his jacket and checked the blades stuck in their pockets.   
Ace watched him go, then settled back again. He knew better than to disturb Kate and ask if she wanted some coffee or tea. She was in research mode and that meant no interferences. He snapped his fingers and music started. Time to catch up on his reading. 

* * * 

Vega dropped by the Magic Express late in the afternoon. Walking through the silent halls, he smiled as Zina moved almost noiselessly past him. A low rumbled greeting was all the noise she made. When he stepped into the living room, Vega stopped and blinked. It looked like a bomb had struck. The couch table was overflowing with books, notepads and paper. More books had been either hauled out of the shelves or from wherever, and they were haphazardly piled on the floor. In the middle of this paper chaos sat a woman Vega knew: Kate Morrigan. Nature mage and someone who could be called Magic Librarian.   
"Hi, Derek," she greeted him, smiling.   
Kate hadn't changed much in the last year. Her hair was a tad shorter, she had acquired a slight tan, but she was still favoring dark turtlenecks.   
"Kate," he now answered. "I didn't know you were in Electro City."   
"Arrived a few days ago. Ace asked me a favor and I'm trying to help him."   
"The link?" he hazarded a guess.   
Kate smiled. "The link," she confirmed.   
"I see."   
"If you're looking for Ace, he left an hour ago to pick up some props that arrived a day earlier than expected."   
Vega shrugged. "No problem." He cast a look around the paper-littered room. "I guess asking how you are coming along would be slightly off."   
She laughed and unfolded from the pillow on the ground. "Maybe, but it looks much worse than it is. Can I offer you a coffee?"   
"I'm a cop. We are born craving for caffeine," Vega replied, smiling.   
Kate chuckled and they went into the small kitchen. There was a pot still on and she poured two mugs of coffee, adding some milk to hers.   
"So, how are you doing?" Vega asked. "Haven't seen you around here for a while."   
He didn't know Kate as well as he did Ace or Cosmo, but she was Ace's friend and he had met her when visiting Ace at Anna's house. She had grown from a thin little girl into a beautiful young woman, and he knew she was researching into magic. It was her life. She spent a lot of time abroad, trying to find out more about what this power really was and what it meant for people using it. He also suspected that there had been something cooking between Ace and her when they had been younger, but it was over. Definitely over.   
"I wasn't around much in the last half year," Kate shrugged. "I went to Oxford in England for a while, then flew into Edinburgh and also to Germany to catch up on some of my studies. I had a paper to finish and very little time left."   
"Paper? About magic?"   
"Yup. You may now call me Dr. Morrigan. Historian with a focus on myth and magic." She winked.   
Vega blinked. "Wow," he then said. "Congratulations! So, you're a Ph.D. now. Well, Dr. Morrigan, what's your verdict?"   
"The patient will live," she answered in a grave voice, but her eyes sparkled.   
Vega chuckled.   
"As for my research, ask me when I'm through with my notes. This is a lot and might take a while."   
"So, you're camping out here?"   
"Been trying to convince Ace that I can very well pay a hotel room or rent a furnished apartment for a while, but he insists in his normal, charming gentlemen-way that I'm his guest and can stay here for free." She sighed and shook her head. "He'll never change."   
"Wouldn't want him to."   
"Neither would I."   
They chatted for some time until Vega was rudely interrupted by his wrist com. He grimaced as he listened to dispatch.   
"Sorry about that," he apologized to Kate. "Duty calls."   
"I'll tell Ace you were here," she promised. "It was nice to see you again, Derek."   
"Likewise. Hope to see you around more often." With that, Vega left. 

* * * 

Kate had taken her usual position in the lab room, which had been cleared of all lab equipment, watching Cosmo as he tried to relax on the training mattresses. He had taken off his jacket, bare arms hanging loosely at his side, eyes closed, chest heaving in regular intervals.   
"Okay, Cosmo," she said, voice calm and almost hypnotizing.   
Cosmo wondered if she and Ace had trained this. Ace had an incredibly calming voice, could penetrate Cosmo's wall of fear and panic within seconds, and Kate wasn't far behind with her voice.   
"What I want to try is testing the link you have. You can sense Ace, but he has no reception of you at all. I'd like you to concentrate on the shard and send some magic through it, some power."   
His bewilderment must have shown because she smiled slightly.   
"It's just a test."   
"But... I never touched the shard before!" Cosmo protested.   
"You did. Just recently."   
"Not consciously."   
"But you achieved it. You do it all the time you feel the magic inside Ace. Your receptiveness to his magic is one talent you have, and it's not limited to Ace, but your emotional link is. Just try it."   
"Does Ace know about this experiment?"   
Kate nodded. "He does, don't worry."   
Cosmo sighed and went through the same relaxation exercise again. Okay, no biggie, he thought. He could do it. No biggie at all.   
"Relax," Kate said, her voice seeming to drift all around him.   
He tried.   
Her voice grew into a distant murmur, a haze falling over his audio perception.   
And then he was inside his head, or at least he thought he was, surrounded by the power of the magic he harbored. It was cool, but also very frightening to see what was stored inside his own body and mind. Now he turned and searched for a way to Ace.   
He found it, slowly moving toward the faintly discolored spot, and touched it.   
He was flung forward at a sickening speed, yelping as the mad rush turned into a frightening rollercoaster ride he couldn't control.   
Panic rose inside him and Cosmo flailed, feeling the magic escape his grasp.   
No!   
And then he ran smack into what seemed to be an impenetrable wall -- which flexed and wavered, then bent and he was sucked through! Through the wall. Gasping again, he tried to get his bearings, but he was completely at a loss. Wherever he was, he wasn't inside his own magic anymore. Around him, something much stronger, much more dangerous and volatile resided, and he felt fear trickle down his spine. Oh, no..... Magic Force, in its most powerful form.... raw and barely tamed....   
Cosmo backpedaled in fear, looking wildly around for a way out of here. Briefly he felt something touch him, something warm and familiar, and he headed for it. The warmth wrapped itself around him, keeping him safe, and he felt as if enveloped in a blanket. Cosmo fought to get control back and finally managed to calm his racing panic attack to a simply shuddering.   
Okay.   
Concentrate.   
Relax.   
The warmth helped him balance, a gentle and calming presence around him, so utterly careful as it touched him. And then he was flung out of the strange environment again. The warmth seemed to stretch, fingers holding him until he was too far from its center and the fingers had to retreat.   
Cosmo's eyes snapped open and he looked into a pair of worried but warm eyes he knew only too well. Cosmo himself lay on his back on the floor, staring at the ceiling.   
"Ace?" he rasped.   
Ace smiled and it was the most reassuring sight there was. For a moment the warmth seemed to come back, then he was alone in his mind. Ace....?   
"That was something I didn't expect," Kate said, now stepping into his field of vision. She looked a bit rattled. "I'm so sorry, Cosmo."   
From what Cosmo had observed earlier, she must have felt the Magic Force he radiated, and it had hurt her.   
"Sorry as well," he mumbled as he sat up, aided by Ace. "Didn't want it to backfire on you, too."   
She smiled. "Hey, no apologies. I know what I'm doing. Usually....."   
Cosmo smiled and rubbed his head. "Man, that was something!"   
Ace nodded. "I noticed. I felt your presence for a brief moment, then it was gone. It was like back in the hospital.... just not as intense."   
Cosmo met his partner's eyes and they told him all the answers he needed. He had actually touched the shard, ever so briefly, and Ace had saved him from slipping. He had been incredibly close to losing himself into the raw potential Ace harbored and it made him shiver to think of it. Man, he knew Ace was powerful, but that was..... frightening!   
Now Kate nodded. "I figured as much. Cosmo, you better get some rest. That was is a bit more than what I had expected to happen." She looked apologetic.   
Cosmo got to his feet, feeling his head clear in leaps. He was bouncing back quickly to his old self.   
"Hey, I'm okay. Hope you're not expecting me to pull something like this again."   
"No. Not right now anyway." That earned her a dark look and Kate grinned.   
Cosmo sighed and shrugged. "Okay, I give up. I *am* the guinea pig here." There was an amused glint in his eyes.   
Kate patted his upper arm. "And you're doing just fine."   
He only harrumphed.   
As he and Ace left the room, Cosmo shot him a silent look. "It happened, right?"   
Ace nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure what exactly it was, but I felt you. It was strange...."   
"And I nearly lost control. Thanks for hauling my butt out of the fire, dude."   
Ace chuckled, eyes glinting.   
Cosmo tried to shove the memories of the energy he had nearly drowned in out of his mind. His stomach rumbled and broke the silence. He grimaced at his friend's grin.   
"I guess that means we need to feed the guinea pig," the magician joked. "Don't want you to faint."   
Cosmo snorted, but food sounded like the best idea all day. Since Kate was not exactly inclined to leave, they ordered out.   
About forty-five minutes later, the pizza party was in progress. 

* * * 

"Cosmo's abilities are not unique in every sense of the word, just.... unprecedented, maybe even singularly rare," Kate started, looking at them both. "Magic comes in all kinds of variations, and they are all derived off one basic power, so no one is really unique. What makes the difference is the strength of the Magic Force yielded and its effects on what it touches. When a person's magical abilities develop, usually around puberty, often spontaneous acts of random magic occur. It's the result of concentrated thought, not actions or words. From my studies, Cosmo can access a good part of the Magic Force, but he cannot yield it with the precision you for instance can, Ace."   
"Story of my life," Cosmo muttered, a smile in his eyes.   
Kate smiled as well. "That comes with time and practice," she told him. "Now... we all know that magician apprentices can be influenced by the master, consciously or unconsciously. It can happen before the power breaks through or later throughout training. I believe this is what happened between the two of you. Cosmo's abilities developed rather late, later than normal, that is. It's not a bad thing. You just needed a bit of a shove to take the last few steps."   
She smiled at Cosmo, who rolled his eyes. The 'last step' had been Ace nearly dying.   
"As for you, Ace, you showed your abilities way earlier than the normal mage, and your power index is on the top of the scale. Cosmo's powers are currently developing in leaps, rather than in a slow linear stream. I believe this has been true for the time you didn't know your powers as well. From what I asked the two of you and from the answers I got, you have formed a close bond before Cosmo was even aware of his magic."   
Ace nodded, totally aware of that. Their friendship had started out as wary trust from Cosmo's side and had later become a tight, unrivaled friendship that had survived a lot of battering and abuse from outside, even from inside. And it had only grown.   
"Your emotions for each other range from friendship to utter protectiveness, and I think this is where the whole change started."   
Kate's voice was normal, almost clinical. Ace was used to it because he knew Kate, knew that when she was in 'lecture mode' she was completely different from the Kate he knew. But Cosmo seemed to be a bit put off by her level voice and no-nonsense manner.   
"I won't delve too deeply into your psyches and I know what I'm saying is known to you, too, but it's important to reiterate it. Cosmo had his magic potential since childhood and it didn't break through until two years ago. Before that, it was nothing more than what people would call talent, gut-feeling or instinct. When you took him in, Ace, he started to trust you and form a surface bond of friendship. I believe that something must have happened later to strengthen that bond slowly but surely with magic, creating the shard. The events around your kidnapping by your twin didn't trigger it. It was already there then."   
Ace felt a shadowy horror creep up on him at the memory of Mitch Wisnewsky, but he swallowed it. No time.... no time to ponder the past. Cosmo had felt the little twitch, though, and there was a brief expression of confusion flitting over his features.   
"I asked you a lot of questions, Cosmo, and from your answers, I think the trust you started to put into Ace, and all the little adventures you had, created the shard. It wasn't planted at one time, but as time passed. Whenever you put yourself into danger, Ace," she looked at the magician, "Cosmo subconsciously put himself with you. Neither of you felt it until Cosmo's abilities bloomed completely."   
She riffled through her papers.   
"I've never read about anything just like this and maybe some of what I theorize will turn out to be utter garbage in the future, but this is what it looks to me right now. There are people who are empathic, or even telepathic, in this world, but neither show the same pattern you two do. I'll continue researching, though. This is magic and magic does what it wants. In your case, it created a tight bond between two minds. It's a bit one-sided where the reception is concerned, but it is strong."   
"Inseparable?" Ace asked, drawing a look from Cosmo that relayed dread and pleading.   
Kate was silent for a while. "Nothing is inseparable, Ace," she finally said. "But sometimes, when separating something, you might destroy one or both participating parts." Her gray-blue eyes were dead serious. "You had this experience twice before. First, when Wisnewsky apparently had killed you and Cosmo was not yet aware of his abilities. Second, just recently. When you really did die for a short time. Both times, the results were severe and would have been catastrophic later on. Your connection is by no means inseparable, but it will destroy a lot if attempted to be cut."   
Ace nodded slowly. "I was afraid of that."   
Another sharp look from Cosmo, but Ace's answer, wordless as well, told him 'later'.   
Kate gazed at them. "This is just a preliminary of what I got from you. I'll keep working on it, but whatever is on your minds, I hope it isn't separation."   
"No," answered softly. "Thanks, Kate."   
She shrugged. "I'm taking a break now. I need some fresh air." She smiled and gathered her papers, getting up.   
Ace suspected that she just wanted to give them the time to talk. He looked at his partner and Cosmo's face clearly showed his dismay.   
"I'm not going to ask for a separation," Ace told him gently, firmly.   
Cosmo swallowed and nodded. They had talked about it before. "Thanks, man," he muttered.   
Ace studied the younger man. "You know my feelings, Cosmo, in more ways than one. I can't change my worrying about you, I can't stop caring, but I won't force a separation."   
"As long as I'm not hurting you....."   
"You never hurt me, Cosmo. Never!" Ace insisted, seeking the pale gray eyes and holding them. "What Kate found out was not to push a separation, it was to understand the bond better."   
Cosmo drew a shaky breath. This had rattled him a bit. Having to recall all past events, good or bad, had left marks. Ace rose from his sitting position and walked over to his friend.   
"Cosmo?"   
"I'm okay," the younger man muttered.   
Imploring eyes searched his face and Cosmo winced as he discovered that Ace saw right through him. The older man clasped his shoulders, squeezing them.   
"Cosmo?"   
He refused to meet his eyes.   
"Cosmo, nothing will change," Ace repeated softly. "Nothing at all."   
"I hope so," Cosmo replied softly. "I like it the way it is. It's part of me... always was."   
Always was, yes. Ace smiled as he recalled what Kate had said. Years back, a young boy had started to trust him, and this trust had given birth to a shard of Cosmo's self implanting itself in Ace's mind. It was something wonderful and mysterious, but it also had massive drawbacks. Like death....   
Ace shied away from the thought.   
His career choice was dangerous, yes, but his 'hobby' as a crime fighter was even more so. It didn't help that the father of the woman he loved was his enemy.   
Ace sighed and smiled at Cosmo's inquiring look. He locked an arm around the shoulders and hugged him briefly.   
"How about we leave these halls and get something to eat?" he tried to steer the topic away from what had been revealed.   
"Sounds good. You pay."   
Ace only laughed.   



End file.
